1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to double deck connector assemblies, and particularly to the connector including the unitary housing with at least two different type contacts respectively and alternately insertably received within the corresponding passageways from opposite sides of the housing.
2. The Related Art
The copending parent application Ser. No. 09/084,809 filed May 26, 1998, discloses a duplex profile connector assembly including stacked upper and lower housings. Each housing defines two rows of passageways by two sides of the central slot, and two rows of contacts are respectively inserted into the corresponding passageways from two sides of the housing. Each housing is adapted to receive therein a module wherein the module defines conductive pads on two opposite surfaces respectively mechanically nd electrically connected to the corresponding contacts by two sides of the central slot. Understandably, based on this design, four-line solder tails, of which two lines are of the upper housing and the other two lines of for the lower housing, can be applied to the mother board on which the connector assembly is seated, thus achieving an incredibly high density arrangement of the contacts/conductors with a relatively compact connector assembly.
Even though the parent application discloses the arrangement which may satisfy the high density or complicate/delicate requirements, some simplified, economic type arrangements are also desired for some mother board design manufacturers. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,697,802 discloses another type double deck connector assembly including a unitary housing with two types contacts alternately inserted into the housing from the back wherein each contact extends into both the upper housing and the lower housing for simultaneous engagement with both the upper and lower modules in respective housings. It can be understood that under this application, only one solder tail of each such contact is soldered to the mother board on which the connector assembly is seated, and such solder tail is the sole means for each contact to transmit signals between the mother board and both two modules. In other words, the upper module and the lower module share the same transmission path (i.e., the contact) with each other for communication with the mother board.
The design used in U.S. Pat. No. 5,697,802 is too simply to be practical because all of the contacts are inserted into the unitary housing from the back. Installation of the contacts from only one side inevitably results in a low density arrangement of the contacts which may not quite satisfactorily meet the modern system specification defined by the computer manufacturer.
Therefore, it is desired to have a medium design essentially characterized between the parent application with a relatively complicate arrangement and U.S. Pat. No. 5,697,802 with a relatively simple arrangement, wherein such a medium design may own the medium density contact arrangement with regard to the housing while keeping simplified structures of each contact for engagement with both the two modules respectively in the upper and lower housings.